About 1 million Earths will fit into our “little” Sun. About 7 Billion Suns would fit inside of VY Canis Majoris, the largest Star known in our galaxy. It’s going to explode. (side note)

If our Sun, holding 1 million Earths were reduced to the size of one penny, the nearest star (Proxima Centauri @ 4.2 light years) would be about 340 miles away. That is one penny in Chicago, the next penny is in Cleveland.

If one penny represents our Sun. There are approximately 300 billion “pennies” in our Milky Way Galaxy. (debatable)

300 billion pennies would just about FILL the Louisiana Superdome. Don’t stack them perfect because it wouldn’t quite fill it, just throw them in. Now spread the Superdome full of pennies at a distance of 340 miles each? Granted, at the center of our galaxy things are a little closer.

That is just one Galaxy. Assume approximately 300 billion galaxies. (debatable)

Stuff all 300 billion stars of our Milky Way Galaxy into a single penny.

Imagine another Superdome full of pennies, to represent the known galaxies.

If the Milky Way Galaxy was reduced into a single penny, the nearest spiral galaxy (Andromeda @ 2.5 million light years) represented as a penny would only be about 2 ft. away. Galaxies are real close compared to stars inside of galaxies. Andromeda is the farthest thing you can see with the naked eye. It is a creepy/freaky thing to find if have the conditions and know where to look. Use 7 x 50 bino’s and it comes to life. Makes you think, I mean really think, what the hell is inside of that little smudge? Just know your looking at 1 Trillion stars (3 superdomes of pennies) as they were 2.5 million years ago, and wonder, where the hell are they now?

Spread the those 300 billion galaxies (pennies) at a distance of just 2 ft.

NASA has confirmed 238 planets outside our solar system in a few years using Kepler. Intelligent life given the odds? I’d say it’s just about a certainty. Possibly in the millions if not billions. 150 years ago the fastest thing was a horse. Now, NASA can find, and catch up to an asteroid 21 miles wide randomly tumbling through space at 40,000 MPH), 160 million miles from Earth, circle it, touch down, sample all of its components and beam back video, all while Kim Kardashian twerks. Chalk one up for scientific evolution.

Lastly, In the words of Neil Degrasse (Astrophysicist), “In 5-billion years, the Sun will expand & engulf our orbit as the charred ember that was once Earth vaporizes. Have a nice day”.

I think it is probable that life other than on our planet has existed. But because of the vastness of space, and the difficult to understand concept of time, I doubt we will ever see evidence of other intelligent life.

If life existed a hundred light years from earth, their and our civilizations would probably not be in existence upon arrival because of the time needed to travel such a distance.

Time is vast and difficult to understand. It limits our ability to "get the whole picture". We are here for only a blink of an eye, and then poof...compared to the universe.

And for more fun; Andromeda and Milky Way galaxies (our local group main inhabitants) are set on an inevitable collision course. Computer simulation shows one almighty 'punch up' in several billion years time.

But we needn't worry. Our sun, as Fredereick says, will have used up all its atomic fusion material in a mere 4 billion years from now (give or take a year or two ) and expanded in a last act of defiance for a real bout of global warming.

As for the theory of cyclical expansion and contraction of the universe, with repeated big creation bangs with different laws of physics, hasn't that now been rejected in favour of continual expansion (driven by dark matter) for ever? Won't the whole universe with its billions of galaxies eventually die, as all sources of energy are exausted, and become just dead almost empty space?

As far as traveling through space and time, I can't help but think we are still in our hide covered boats, hugging the coastline. I can't say how we will cross the ocean of the cosmos, but I can't write it off as impossible._________________/w\

It's interesting that your post coincided with an interview I saw last night on Bill Moyers' PBS show featuring Neil Degrasse as a guest. Degrasse has elegant way of presenting the universe, and he does it in a way that's easy for us all to digest.

The mystery of what we don't know and can't see, but it's all there right in front of us.

G.T., it appears that you're right about the state of the universe. Degrasse adheres to the continual expansion theory, and he talked about that in the interview.

I always look to the patterns and forms all around us for answers for the nature of the really big things...spirals, waves, branches etc. The one I like to envision for our universe is that its just one expanding bubble in a big mobius strip of cosmic foam._________________/w\

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